Rats and mice are well known rodents capable of substantial damage to property and public health and the extermination of unwanted rodents is a wide-spread need both on a domestic and commercial scale.
Whilst endless attempts, designs and variations of mouse and rat traps have been provided and are a source of constant innovation and development, the traditional mouse and rat trap still dominates the trap market for dealing with unwanted rodents. The traditional trap is based on a simple design with a wire hoop being held in a tensioned or biased position by way of a retaining bar, in turn held by a release mechanism, where the release mechanism is adapted for holding bait such that interference with the bait by a rat or mouse, activates the release means to release the retaining bar, thereby allowing the wire hoop to fly forward over the top of the release means, capturing and euthanizing the animal interfering with the bait. Whilst the traditional trap mechanism has a measure of reliability, it is not fail proof and often rats and mice are able to learn and adapt to take the bait from the release mechanism without activation thereof and thereby retrieve the bait from the trap without releasing the wire hoop and escaping without being trapped.
Close observation of the jaw and tooth anatomy of a rat and mouse, reveals that the incisors formed as a foremost teeth in rats and mice appear to be the primary teeth used by rodents in attacking the bait provided on traps. Further investigations into the configuration of the upper and lower incisors and the gnawing action of such rodents, shows that the sharp bevel shaped cutting edge formed in both the upper and lower incisors is used in conjunction with the ability of rats and mice to move their lower jaws forward, such that the lower incisors are positioned in front of the upper incisors. As such, when a rat or mouse endeavours to attack bait mounted to the release means of a trap, it is often the case that the rodent has either learnt or by some other means, to use a gnawing or bruxing action whereby the lower incisors are cause to draw in an upward or lifting action onto the bait, rather than a downward action on the bait. The mode of action of the standard release means found on most rat and mouse traps requires a downward action in order to release the retaining bar. Accordingly, if a rat or mouse either learns or by whatever means, attacks the bait on a trap and avoids pushing down on the bait but instead tends to lift up on the bait in order to gnaw or release the bait, there is a very good chance that the rodent may avoid the necessary downward pressure on the release means and thereby avoid activating the trap.
In addition to the above limitations found in many prior art traps an additional problem exists with the setting of such traps which often expose the user to having their fingers caught in the trap by inadvertently releasing the trap during setting or failure to set the trap properly before placement on the ground or other types of mishandling situations. It would be desirable to provide a rodent trap overcoming the above difficulties and limitations.
One object of this invention is to provide an improved trap.